Forever Mine
This is the sixth episode of Vale, season 6. Written by Rainy. Read, enjoy, & comment! '' '' ''Forever Mine'' Specklenose was a mess. He lay in the medicine cat's den, across from Brightpaw. A deep line of red ran across his chest, the wound still fresh-looking hours after its inflection. Minkears sat beside her friend, but she could barely look at him. Every time she did, a terrible lump rose in her throat, and tears smarted in her eyes. She didn't get it. How he could be there in the morning--laughing, making jokes, hanging around with his expecting mate in the nursery--and fighting for his life by nightfall. Chamomile and Bluebird entered the medicine cat's den softly. "How's he holding up?" Bluebird asked. "He's stable. That's what Blossomleaf said." Minkears tried to make her voice sound strong, for Cammy's sake. But cracks shot through and leaked her pain till she felt like it was choking her, filling the air she was breathing. Cammy's eyes were dry; there was nothing left in her for tears. Without saying a word, she walked over to Specklenose's nestside and gazed down at him. She didn't acknowledge Minkears and Bluebird; after she gave him a meaningful look, Minkears and he got up and exited the medicine cat's den. Outside, Bluebird turned to her with a strained look on his face. "I'm sorry." When she didn't respond, he added, "I know. It's meager resititution when your kithood friend is lying lifelessly on the ground, but-" "He's not my kithood friend," she interrupted shortly. She wasn't sure why she said what she did next, except that she needed him to stop looking at her with those blue eyes so full of concern and tenderness, stop looking at her like she deserved any of it. "He was friends with Breezeflight and Daisyheart when we were kits. Not me. I was terrible. Don't you remember? I know you didn't talk to us back then, but surely you must know: I was rude, I pushed everyone away..." He laughed, but his eyes darkened. "We're not who we used to be. None of us. Or do you not remember the kind of tom I used to be?" "Bluebird-" she began, unsure why he sounded so angry, but he cut her off. "If you want to pretend, that's fine. Pretend that all we've been through means nothing, pretend we haven't changed at all, pretend nothing separates then from now, no sun has set and no sun has risen, and we're just as much strangers as we used to be." "That's not what I meant." Minkears immediately regretted the frustration spilling out. She needed to seize control, to diffuse the situation quickly. He was too close, scent wreathing warmly around her, blue eyes like beacons scattering sapphire reflections among the broken fractals of what was left inside her, close enough to touch, to sink, to drown. "No, it's not. You never say what you mean. You push all that away--everything I see in your eyes, even right now--smother it till you've convinced even yourself that you never felt it at all. I know better. I spent too much of my life trying to be like Duskwatcher, trying to be the Clan's golden tom and faking a smile till my face froze that way. But I'm done pretending. I won't pretend, Minkears, that I don't die inside every time I see them hurting--Specklenose, Breezeflight, Brightpaw, Poolpaw, Petalpaw--everyone we care about but can't protect. Every time I see you hurting. And I won't pretend... I can't... that I don't love you." There it was. Everything she dreaded and yearned for at the same time. There were a million things she could've said, but even she didn't expect what came out: "Why?" His eyebrows went up, but then he gave her a crooked little smile, as if he wasn't surprised after all, as if it was just something she would say. All he said in response, though, was, "I wouldn't want to burst your ego." - - - - All Fire asked for was a little peace. But no. She couldn't even take a nap without the whispering of a thousand unidentifiable voices tugging at her ears, dragging her into a dream world where up was down and she couldn't quite get her bearings. Out of the murky gray swirls of her own mind shone a golden beacon, a pinpoint of light that was slowly developing into a defined form as it drew closer. "Ariel?" she gasped. Even though it was just a dream, seeing her sister was like a blow to her head; dizzying and painful all at once. "Fire. I don't have much time." Ariel seemed achingly far away despite the fact that Fire could now see every detail of her--her ginger-and-white pelt and bright green eyes, so close to Fire's own. "I know how much it hurts you, sister, to move around everday." "I- I don't know what you're talking about." "Yes, you do. You're so close to ending up like Brightpaw." A vision of the little apprentice flashed across Fire's mind, and she gulped, her throat turning to sand. "Is she going to be okay?" Ariel looked worried. "All three of you are weak," she said without answering Fire's question. "Too weak to bind the ring of fire." "Bind it?" "Yes. To bind the monster." Fire's stomach did a slow roll inside her. "W- what do you..." "That's what I was doing the day we were supposed to escape from the League together," Ariel confessed, shoulders dropping. "It's the primary purpose of the powers of legend, to keep the monster at bay." "What? How could you never tell me?" "I didn't know. The Death-Stone has never garnered this much power before." "What? What's the Death-Stone? Ariel, what's really going on?" Fire sounded like a frightened kit in her own ears, but she couldn't help it. She wanted her sister back. "And how does predicting the future, shadowhopping, and my lame power... how do those things bind a monster?" "Sister, I know you have little strength, but you have to bind the monster. You have to try. Buy them some time. Get out of the vale. All of you. Evacuate." "We can't leave the vale!" Fire burst out without thinking. Frowning, Ariel said, "It isn't your home. Why are you so offended?" "Ariel, are you nuts? Think about it. We have GreenClan and Tribe blood. We've lived in the League and I've lived in SpringClan. We belong to every part of the vale. It's who we are." "There's no stopping the monster." "The heck there isn't. Tell me what I need to know. How do I-" Eyes flashing defiantly, Ariel said, "I won't. You'll get yourself killed. The Death-Stone's too powerful." "What is the Death-Stone?" "You'll always be my sister. You know that? Forever. The only things deeper than the scars of the past are the imprints of those we loved. Love." "Ariel..." Tears sparkled in her sister's eyes. "We're out of time." "No! Wait--please!" "Good bye, sweet sister." Fire leaped forward and hit solid ground. Her eyes flew open as she awoke from her dream, and she let out a sob as her paws hit the dirt. "Stars, no, come back... please, Ariel," she moaned, burying her face in her paws. The dream has awoken all the pain of losing her sister, as if it was just yesterday she'd watched Ariel's execution. Helpless to stop, helpless to save a cat who was her own blood... just... watching the blood that ran in her own veins flow freely down the pelt that so closely mirrored her own. Love's cruelest trick was the illusion of forever. - - - - "You're going to wear holes in your paws if you keep pacing, Breezeflight." Ryan's tone was clipped, but he looked more worried than annoyed. I paused to give him an apologetic glance before resuming my pacing. Fire, Ren, and Josh sat in a triangular form nearby, each staring off blankly in a different direction. Up to this point, Lily had been listlessly batting a small twig fragment from one paw to the other, but now she stood and muttered, "I'm going to find Cammy, see how she's holding up," and headed off. The rest of us stared after her, as if her departure had awakened some need to do something--only we weren't sure what. Then, with a collective sigh, I resumed walking back and forth, and the others resumed their vacant stares. "Breezeflight!" I couldn't remember a time when I'd been more annoyed to hear Dewstar's voice. "What?" I all but snarled, whirling to face him. If I'd been in a less tense mood, I might have felt sympathy for him. He looked stretched thin, and he was almost involuntarily leaning on Hollystrike, who stood beside him. I couldn't help but feel mixed emotions about that. On the one hand, I trusted her more than any other GreenClan cat, except maybe Seabreeze; she'd risked it all to stand up to Viperstar and lost her eye for it. On the other hand, I didn't understand why Dewstar had to put her on his council and parade around beside her like she was SpringClan. Because she wasn't. Hadn't Odessa and Gorsepaw's escape taught him anything about inter-Clan friendships? There was always a claw hidden behind someone's back. Then again, who was I to talk? I was the one hiding a claw when it came to Seabreeze; she'd risked everything to help me and I'd repaid her by killing her brother. "I told you to plan the mission to GreenClan," Dewstar said, his face hard. "Why are you wasting your time?" "I did. And then Odessa visited, and then she escaped with Gorsepaw, and things dissolved into chaos, remember? And my apprentice and one of my best friends are both in the medicine cat's den," I snapped. "Be as that may. The rest of SpringClan still exists, you know. If you want to be a good deputy, you're going to have to learn to put others first." I couldn't believe this. He'd practically forced me into agreeing to be his deputy after the mission. Now he was trying to make it seem like I was shirking responsibility that I'd never asked for in the first place. Before I could open my mouth and let Dewstar know exactly what I thought of his attitude--or let loose the stream of curses building inside me, whichever came first--he spoke again. "I received new information. Seabreeze and another SpringClan tom have informed that Viperstar knows about our plan to attack." Stunned, I said, "He knows? How?" "Seabreeze was the one who helped Gorsepaw and Odessa escape-" "She did what? I thought you said we could trust her!" Fire barged into the conversation with an indignant hiss. "She isn't in this fight for us," Dewstar said. "She's trying to do the right thing, partisanship aside. It was Odessa who told Viperstar our plans." I let out a growl of frustration. "Brilliant, that's fantastic." "At least Seabreeze warned us. We have time to revise our tactics. That's up to you." Fire frowned. "Hang on--we're still carrying on with the attack? Even though all of GreenClan will be mobilized for defense?" "We have to get Poolpaw and Petalpaw back. It's been far too long already. How can we tend to Specklenose and Brightpaw while leaving two other apprentices to die at the paws of the enemy?" Dewstar said. "We can't exactly afford to get others killed or injured either, though," pointed out Fire. No pressure, then. I just had to come up with a foolproof plan to circumvent GreenClan's entire protection system and rescue Poolpaw and Petalpaw without anyone getting hurt, all before tomorrow. "Fine. Thanks for telling me," I said to Dewstar. He gave me a nod. "Seabreeze didn't want to address you directly." My stomach turned uneasily. "What exactly did she say?" But Dewstar had already turned and loped back towards the leader's den. Hollystrike lingered for another moment. "He's trying to help you. I know he comes across as insensitive, but really he just wants to let you know what leadership requires of you." Her one good eye darkened. "It demands sacrifice." Haven't I sacrificed enough already? I gave her a curt nod. "I understand that. But maybe he should keep in mind the fact that I'm only taking the deputyship for Goldenburst and Ivyrose to have a chance at happiness." "Maybe you should rethink that. SpringClan deserves a more committed deputy," she responded, and then she too was gone. I felt like I'd been slapped. I turned to Ryan, who was giving me a crooked sort of smile. "I'm sorry," he said. "I can't join you for a pity party right now. I can't let you reduce yourself to that." I fought back the ridiculous urge to cry and punch him. Because I knew, deep down, that they were all right. I had to be better than this. For all the cats who had ever believed in me, all the way back to Fuzzears and Oakstar. "Good, because there's no pity party being held here," I said shortly. "Get the others--everyone but Specklenose and Cammy, obviously. We've got to get Petalpaw and Poolpaw back, and it's happening no matter what." "There's the Breezeflight I know," said Ryan with a grin, giving me a snappy salute before calling the others over. "What's up, chief?" "Don't you dare call me that," I said, shooting Saori a glare. "Sorry." She shrugged unrepentantly. "Heard you were becoming the new deputy." "Honestly, what's the point of a ceremony if everyone already knows? And for your information, I'm not yet. Goldenburst is still in charge." "Either way, you're in charge of the tunnels expedition. What's the plan?" asked Minkears impatiently. I gave her a slight smile. "I don't know yet. I need all of your help." By the time the sun began to set, my brain felt like mush. I would've dearly liked to crawl into my nest and sleep for a few hundred moons, but there were only a few hours left till nightfall--when my plan would go into action--and I had a feeling that if I so much as closed my eyes, I wouldn't be able to reopen them. Instead, I forced myself into alertness, grabbing a mouse off the fresh-kill pile and trying to keep myself busy. Unfortunately, none of my friends wanted to talk to me; they were sick and tired of rehashing the plan, and wanted to take some time to mentally prepare themselves for phase one of Project Recovery, as we had dubbed it. I'd already run my plan past Dewstar; we'd had an argument about whether he or Goldenburst had to be present for phase one, but I'd finally beaten him down. Tonight was just the stakeout; no one would be entering the tunnels till tomorrow. We needed to get a feel for GreenClan's defense system and patrol routine first; measure how long guard shifts were, explore aboveground to see if we could find any hidden exits that could be used as escape routes if we got into trouble underground, and accordingly adjust our attack. "Yo." A black tom sat beside me, helping himself to a bite of my mouse. "Hey Ryan. I haven't annoyed you with my boring military strategy talk yet?" His eyes reflected the golden sunset as they twinkled at me. "I happen to find boring military whatnot very interesting. How are you feeling?" "Like I haven't slept in two days." "Maybe because you haven't." "I blinked for two seconds instead of one--does that count?" Ryan settled down and offered me his shoulder. "You're welcome to take a catnap." I lay down as well but gave him a doubtful look. "I'm not going to take a nap," I said through a thick yawn. "I'm perfectly capable of..." I sort of lost track of what happened following that. My theory was that Ryan performed some sort of magical spell to put me into an enchanted sleep; when I next opened my eyes, the sky was nearly black, and the first stars were appearing. For a second, I wasn't sure where I was. Then something stirred beside me, and I realized I'd done what I said I wouldn't and had fallen asleep with my head on Ryan's shoulder--mouth slung open at an embarrassing angle, a trickle of drool dampening my cheek, and probably having snored in his ear for the past hour. "Why didn't you wake me?" "I was going to if you overslept. You're not late." "I've got to assemble the others," I said, getting up. "Meet me by the camp entrance in ten." He agreed, and within ten minutes, Project Recovery's stakeout patrol was on its way out of the camp. Minkears, Bluebird, Lily, and Saori stayed behind; they were part of one of the attack patrols that wouldn't be deployed till tomorrow morning. Flanking me were Ryan and Ren; behind me, Fire and Josh moved silently through the undergrowth. Before I focused all of my energy on tonight's mission, I sent up a silent prayer for Brightpaw and Specklenose, that they would still be there waiting for me when I returned. We crossed the Red Field and continued towards GreenClan's hideout. When the jagged remains of the tunnel I'd collapsed looking for the Life-Rock appeared, I called a halt. "The entrance to GreenClan's tunnels is to the right," I said, indicating it. "Underground, there's a chamber with about twenty smaller tunnels connected to it; Seabreeze told us which ones are dead ends, and which ones snake back to the actual cavern where GreenClan is living." "We've been over all of this, Breezeflight," Fire said impatiently. "Just give us our posts." I nodded at her and Josh. "You two are over there. Ryan and I will be opposite you. That way we'll be able to scent anyone approaching no matter which way the wind blows. The signal if you see or hear anything and want the other two cats to stay hidden is a single hoot, like an owl; the signal if you want help or back-up is two hoots." Ryan snickered. "If you don't give a hoot-" "Shut up, you dolt," I said, stepping on his paw. "This is no time for jokes." "Sorry. Owl be good." "Unbelievable," Fire muttered as Josh let out a giggle. We split up, but not before Fire marched up to me and whispered in my ear, "If you and Ryan ruin the stakeout because you're loving it up, I swear." My ears burned. "You don't need to worry about us. Just go do your job." "Whatever." She held my gaze a moment longer. "Be careful." "You too." I tamped down the grass in a small ovular patch and lay down. Ryan did the same, pressing close to the ground so he wouldn't be visible from afar. Both of us were lucky; our pelts were black, and Josh's was a deep brown. Fire was the only one who really stood out against the dim nightscape. "What happens if we see anyone?" "We don't do anything unless they're a threat. We're here to establish a pattern of their movements. Now be quiet," I whispered. Ryan nodded. "That's boring," he sighed, but he fell silent. Though I didn't voice it, I rather agreed with him. It'd be much nicer to be sitting out under the stars together if we could actually speak to each other. Out in the night, small creatures stirred in the grass. Insects hummed and buzzed their little melodies, and the breeze whistled in the woods behind us. Far in the distance, the faint, artificial lights of Twolegplace glowed like fireflies suspended in midair. I was trying to fight off a particularly insistent wave of drowsiness when Ryan nudged me. Something considerably larger than a shrew or rabbit was stirring a few tail-lengths in front of us. Actually, more than one something. Three cats crawled out of GreenClan's tunnel. The first was staggering, coughing and hacking as the two cats behind him shoved him onwards; he appeared to be their prisoner. The scent of blood hit my nostrils, and I felt my hackles rise. I could feel Ryan tense up beside me. He reached for me, his paw closing over mine like he needed to make sure I was still there. He let out a single hoot, soft and low. The GreenClan guards shoved their charge to the ground. "Let's just hurry up with it," one of them, a burly gray tom, said. "I'd like to make him suffer. This one's a rat," said his partner, a slim white she-cat who I vaguely recognized as the one who had sneeringly told us about Poolpaw and Petalpaw's kidnapping. Anger crested inside me. "He's worthless. Viperstar wants him executed summarily." If I had been just a little bit quicker, I might've seen what was about to happen and stopped it. But by the time the moonlight hit the prisoner's face and illuminated the features of Aldereyes, it was too late: Fire had already exploded out of the grass and charged straight into the burly gray tom. He let out a yell and went down, hard. Ryan and I wasted no time; we were on our paws and on top of the GreenClan cats in a flash. Josh slammed his hindlegs into the white she-cat's chest, knocking her to the floor. I pinned the gray tom while Fire raced over to her father. But reinforcements were already arriving for the other side. GreenClan warriors began streaming out of the tunnel entrance. "Run!" I screamed at Ryan as two warriors cannoned into me. "Get help!" "I'm not leaving you!" He struggled to my side and flung a she-cat off of me, his claws leaving deep red grooves in her shoulder. I swore horribly and kicked away a tom that had been crouching behind him. "Someone needs to get help!" Ryan opened his mouth to reply, but broke off, his eyes widening as he stared at the tom who had just emerged. Viperstar. The GreenClan leader's gaze locked with mine. I felt rooted to the spot as a million emotions--terror, rage, hatred--flowed through me. "Seize her. It's her. Take her down." Instantly, just about every GreenClan warrior turned their attention to me. My first instinct was to fight like all the furies of fire to try to survive, but I pushed down my panic long enough to give Ryan a shove. "Get out!" He didn't even hear me. "Don't touch her," he snarled, looking at Viperstar as if he were a snake that had slithered out from under a rock. "I will end you." "Tough talk when you're outnumbered a hundred to one. Kill him. We don't need him." "No!" I jumped in front of Ryan. My eyes flickered around for a split second; there was no sign of Fire, Aldereyes, or Josh. I could only assume they'd realized the fight was hopeless and had gone to get help--I hoped they made it in time, because we were running out of options. "If you want me alive, you're going to have to keep him alive too." "Deal. Take them both." GreenClan warriors surrounded us. I couldn't see Crowtooth or Seabreeze anywhere; the paws that shoved us and clawed us were merciless. As we were forced to march towards the tunnel, I whispered, "I'm so sorry." Ryan didn't respond. His eyes were like stone, but his anger was focused on Viperstar with an intensity that made me marvel it hadn't vaporized the tom on the spot; if looks could kill, Viperstar would be nothing more than a heap of ashes. I would've given anything up just to not have Ryan beside me at that moment. If he got hurt... I would never forgive myself. The two of us were crammed through the tunnel, then through a smaller one. I only caught a glimpse of a large, circular well of dirt flanked by rocky dens before we were being shoved through the GreenClan camp and into a dirty pit in the corner. My paws skidded out from under me, and I let out a cry of pain as I landed the drop hard on my right paw. Ryan landed with an oof on something soft. Squinting in the darkness, I made out the shapes of two very thin cats. "Poolpaw? Petalpaw?" I said in disbelief. "Breezeflight!" the apprentices cried in unison. I felt something break inside me as I realized my plan had failed completely. "I was trying to save you," I said. Neither of them seemed to care. They rushed forward and embraced me. I could feel their bones through their pelts. Petalpaw's face was colored by a purple bruise, and Poolpaw was limping. "It's so good to see you," Poolpaw whispered. "Is SpringClan okay?" "Hopefully they're on their way to rescue us." "We could try to escape ourselves." Ryan was already back on his paws, studying the walls of our prison intently. "There's no way out. We've tried everything. Even if we managed to get out of the pit, we'd have to walk straight through the camp to get out. It's hopeless." Tears were running down Petalpaw's cheeks. "This is all our fault. We should never have followed your patrol. None of this would've happened if we'd just stayed put." "They killed your parents. I understand why you did what you did. I would've done the same." I wrapped my tail around her and drew her close. Ryan was frowning. "Is there someone else in here?" Poolpaw gave him a nod. "You can come out," she said, addressing someone who was apparently hidden in the shadows at the back of the pit. "They're not GreenClan." "So I surmised," said a male voice. A tom emerged. It was hard to tell, but his pelt seemed to be a shade of rocky gray, his eyes a fixating steel blue. The most striking thing about him were the red streaks on his face and along his front legs, like a version of the stripes on the TigerClan of legend. I'd never seen anything like them. "What's with the...?" The tom glanced down, following my gaze, and gave me a wry smile. "Where I come from, this is customary for my rank. Pages wear green, nurses wear brown, hunters wear red, healers wear yellow, and the commander wears violet. We crush plants, berries, flowers, to make paste, and every full moon the entire Clan gets painted." "Thanks for the cultural lesson, but would you mind telling us who you are?" asked Ryan. "Forgive me. I am Gray Wolf of Snow Mountain--but you can call me Wolf." "Snow Mountain? Are you by any chance from the Tribe?" "I am." Things were falling into place. "Viperstar captured you. To get your part of the Prophecy." A pained look flashed through Wolf's eyes. "Yes." Everything hinged on his answer to the next question. "Did you tell him?" Wolf grimaced. "Yes." I looked at Poolpaw and Petalpaw; the looks on their faces spelled out all I needed to know. Viperstar had all three parts of the Prophecy. Wolf was looking at me again, more intently. "What's your name?" "Breezeflight." "Breezeflight," he said carefully. "You know why you're here, don't you? Viperstar thinks you're the last warrior." "Me? Why me?" "The last warrior stands, will not take flight. The shadows will brave, the darkest night," quoted Wolf. "He thinks 'flight' is a clue--and your pelt is black, like the darkest night." "That's ridiculous." "That's not all. You haven't heard the Tribe's part of the Prophecy." "War split the sky, the valley vale Crawl o'er bone, o'er blood and rock and shale Three fight and fall as flame does rise Dark in fang and death in eyes The soul of the earth in desperate throes The warrior last and warriors legend No ease, green sight--vanquish all our foes." The silence after Wolf finished was deafening. My voice sounded incredibly small as I muttered, "So I have green eyes. So what?" "Ease, breeze. Sight, flight." "That's a coincidence." Ryan was shaking his head. "It's us. You're the last warrior. I'm one of the three--and if Viperstar gets his paws on Brightpaw and Fire..." "But why? What's he trying to accomplish? What does destroying the vale do?" Poolpaw let out a squeak. "You don't really think he can do that, do you? Destroy the vale?" "I don't--Ryan? Ryan?" The tom's eyes had suddenly rolled back, exposing their whites. He staggered forward. A bubble of spit burst at his mouth as his eyelids slammed shut, and he collapsed. The End Category:Vale